Cream Cup

ABSTRACT

A cream cup ( 10 ) comprises an internal cream-containing cup ( 11 ), and external cup lining ( 12 ) for receiving said internal cup and a spacer ( 21 ) which is placed between said internal cup and external cup lining and which, after being inserted into the cup lining ( 12 ), can be transferred from a radial retracted configuration for the insertion thereof into the cup lining ( 12 ) to a radial extension configuration for receiving said cup lining ( 12 ) in such a way that the internal cup ( 11 ) is fixed therein.

The present invention pertains to a cream cup with an internal cup for accommodating a cream and an external cup lining for receiving the internal cup, wherein a spacer is arranged between the internal cup and the cup lining.

Cream cups of the initially described type serve for accommodating creams, particularly skin creams, and should not only make it possible to safely store the cream, but also to realize an aesthetically appealing presentation of the cream contained therein. This is the reason why such cream cups typically comprise several parts and feature an internal cup that is inserted into an external lining. Since the volume of the internal cup usually amounts to only a fraction of the volume of the external lining, a spacer normally needs to be provided between the internal cup and the external lining in order to securely hold the internal cup in the external lining.

The present invention is based on the objective of proposing a cream cup, the components of which can be easily assembled and make it possible to achieve an aesthetically appealing design of the cream cup.

This objective is attained in that the inventive cream cup is realized in accordance with the characteristics of Claim 1.

According to the invention, a spacer is arranged between the internal cup and the external lining and, after its insertion into the cup lining, can be transferred from a radially retracted configuration for being inserted into the cup lining into a radially expanded configuration for receiving the internal cup such that the internal cup is fixed in the cup lining.

During the assembly of the cream cup, the inventive design of the spacer makes it possible to initially insert the spacer into the external lining and then radially widen the spacer in order to subsequently insert the internal cup into the radially widened spacer and safely store the internal cup in the external lining.

According to one advantageous embodiment, the spacer features at least two spacer segments that are connected to one another by means of connecting devices of variable length. The inventive widening of an initially retracted spacer can already be achieved with this very simple design.

If the spacer segments are furthermore realized in the form of ring segments that are connected to one another by means of circumferential webs on their longitudinal ends, the inserted internal cup is radially supported relative to the cup lining over longer circumferential distances such that the insertion of the internal cup into the spacer is simplified and promoted by the adequate radial guiding properties of the ring segments.

A design of the spacer that allows an exactly defined relative arrangement between the ring segments in the retracted as well as the widened configuration is achieved if the ring segments are connected to one another by means of circumferential webs on their upper axial ends and by means of radial spokes on their lower axial ends.

In another advantageous embodiment, the spacer features at least two spacer segments that have an axial dimension corresponding to the inner height of the external lining and are respectively connected to a circumferential edge of a cup bottom of the internal cup on their upper axial ends by means of a connecting device with a predetermined breaking point.

This embodiment makes it possible to simplify the assembly because the spacer and the internal cup can be handled as a unit rather than independently of one another.

In order to eliminate the need for a discreet predetermined breaking point on the connecting device, it is particularly advantageous if the connecting device consists of a film material because the connection is simply torn or separated due to the film or foil character of the connecting device after the spacer is inserted into the cup lining and the internal cup is additionally displaced into the external lining.

A particularly simple manufacture of an assembly unit consisting of the internal cup and the spacer can be achieved if the internal cup and the spacer are realized in one piece with the aid of the connecting device. For example, an assembly unit of this type can be manufactured in one piece by means of an injection moulding process.

It is also particularly advantageous if the circumferential edge and the cup bottom define a receptacle space for accommodating a weight because this makes it possible to insert the weight and the spacer into the cup lining in an interconnected state.

Regardless of the particular design of the spacer, it is advantageous if the spacer segments are realized elastically such that the internal cup can be accommodated in the cup lining under elastic prestress. This makes it possible to preclude relative movements that could lead to annoying noises during the handling of the cream cup.

If the ring segments are realized such that a radially outer and a radially inner surface of the ring segments respectively have a surface contour that corresponds to the surface contour of an inner surface of the cup lining and an outer surface of the internal cup, respectively, the spacer makes it possible to achieve a particularly accurate guidance that prevents possible tilting during the insertion, namely not only in the instant of the insertion, but rather during the entire insertion process until the internal cup is completely accommodated in the cup lining.

According to one preferred embodiment, the internal cup and the cup lining are realized in the form of cylindrical cups and the ring segments are realized in the form of hollow cylindrical segments.

If so required, the hollow cylindrical segments may also be realized in a curved fashion in accordance with the adjacent surface of the cup lining and the internal cup, respectively. If the respective adjacent surfaces of the internal cup and the cup lining are realized accordingly, it is also possible to design the radially outer surface and the radially inner surface of the spacer with different curvature radii.

Advantageous embodiments of the cream cup are described below with reference to the figures. The figures show:

FIG. 1, a perspective representation of a first embodiment of a cream cup;

FIG. 2, a sectional representation of the cream cup according to FIG. 1;

FIG. 3, a top view of the cream cup according to FIG. 1;

FIG. 4, an exploded view of the cream cup according to FIG. 1 that serves for elucidating the assembly process;

FIG. 5, a spacer in its radially retracted configuration;

FIG. 6, another embodiment of a cream cup;

FIG. 7, a sectional representation of the cream cup according to FIG. 6;

FIG. 8, a top view of the cream cup according to FIG. 6, and

FIG. 9, an exploded view of the cream cup according to FIG. 6 that serves for elucidating the assembly process.

FIG. 1 shows a perspective representation of a cream cup 10 with an internal cup 11 that serves for directly accommodating a not-shown cream and a cup lining 12 that receives the internal cup 11.

The illustration according to FIG. 2, in particular, shows that the internal cup 11 and the cup lining 12 are both realized in the form of a cup. In this case, the internal cup 11 essentially consists of a cup wall 13 that has the shape of a hollow cylinder and is realized in one piece with an outwardly convex cup bottom 14. In its upper edge region, the cup wall 13 is provided with an external thread 15 that serves for producing a connection with a not-shown screw cap. The internal cup 11 is preferably made of plastic.

The cup lining 12 features a wall 16 in the shape of a hollow cylinder that is provided with an inwardly protruding inward flange 17 on its upper edge, wherein this inward flange forms an opening edge 30 of a receptacle opening 18 for receiving the internal cup 11. The lining 12 furthermore features a lining bottom 19 that is integrally connected to the wall 16 and essentially extends parallel to the plane of the receptacle opening 18. The lining 12 is preferably realized in the form of a deep-drawn part of metal, particularly of aluminum.

FIG. 2 also shows that the arrangement of the inward flange 17 on the wall 16 creates an annular undercut space 20 in the interior of the cup lining 12, wherein this undercut space is occupied by a spacer 21 of corresponding annular design. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, a disk-shaped weight 23 is arranged in the receptacle space 22 bordered by the spacer 21 in addition to the internal cup 11 in the assembled state of the cream cup 10, wherein said weight is situated between the cup bottom 14 and the lining bottom 19 referred to a vertical axis 24 of the cream cup 10.

The assembly process for manufacturing the cream cup 10 is described below with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, wherein the spacer 21 is illustrated in its radially retracted installation configuration I (FIG. 5) as well as in its radially widened receptacle configuration II (FIG. 4). The spacer 21 features a multitude of spacer segments 25 that are arranged annularly. In the present embodiment, the spacer 21 features six spacer segments 25 that are connected to one another by means of a radial connecting device 27 of star-shaped design on their lower axial end 26. On their opposite axial end 28, the spacer segments 25 arranged on their circle 31 are connected to one another by means of web-shaped connecting devices 29. In the installation configuration I, the radial spacing between the spacer segments 25 is reduced such that an installation circumference d is realized which is smaller than the clear diameter D of the receptacle opening 22 of the lining 12. In this installation configuration I, the connecting webs 29 as well as the connecting device 27 are positioned in their shortened installation configuration.

After the spacer 21 is inserted into the cup lining 12, a radial widening of spacer 21 takes place such that the spacer 21 or the spaces segments 25, respectively, are moved radially outward into their receptacle configuration II. Consequently, the inside diameter D of the spacer has such a dimension in the receptacle configuration II that the weight and subsequently the internal cup 11 can be inserted into the cup lining 12 or the receptacle space 22 defined by the spacer 21 arranged in the lining 12, respectively. The outside diameters of the weight d_(G) and of the internal cup d_(I) are slightly oversized referred to the inside diameter D of the widened spacer 21 such that a slight press fit is adjusted between the weight 23 and the internal cup 11 on one hand and the spacer 21 on the other hand.

The widening or transferring of the spacer 21 from the installation configuration I into the receptacle configuration II can be realized with the insertion of the weight 23 and the internal cup 11 into the spacer 21.

Due to the above-described assembly process made possible by the ability to radially widen the spacer in accordance with the invention, the cup lining 12 can also be realized integrally, i.e., with a lining bottom that is realized in one piece with the wall 16 of the lining 12, namely despite the undercut realized on the lining 12.

A comparison of FIGS. 2 and 4 clearly shows that a snap-in web 32 provided on the outside of the cup wall 13 engages with the opening edge 30 of the receptacle opening 18 formed by the inward flange 17 when the internal cup 11 is completely inserted into the receptacle space formed by the spacer 21.

In the following explanation of another embodiment of a cream cup 40 that is illustrated in FIGS. 6 to 9, components that are designed or function analogous to the components described in connection with the preceding figures are identified by the same reference symbols such that only the differences in comparison with the above-described embodiment of the cream cup 10 are discussed below.

A comparison of FIGS. 7 and 9 clearly shows that the cream cup 40 is provided with a spacer 41 that is connected to the internal cup 42 or its cup bottom 46, respectively, or to a region of the cup wall 45 situated adjacent to the cup bottom 46. In the embodiment shown, the spacer 41 is connected to the internal cup 42 by means of a film web 49 provided on the upper axial end 43 of the spacer 41. Analogous to the spacer 21, the spacer 41 features a multitude of spacer segments 44 that, however, do not have to be directly connected to one another due to the respective connection with the cup bottom 46 or the cup wall 45, respectively.

A comparison of FIGS. 2 and 9 also clearly shows that, after inserting the spacer 41 in the installation configuration I shown in FIG. 9 and continuing the axial insertion movement, the film web 49 tears such that the internal cup 42 or the cup wall 45 subsequently penetrates into the receptacle space 22 of the spacer 41, wherein the penetration of the internal cup 42 into the spacer 41 results in a radial widening of the spacer 41 such that it is transferred into the receptacle configuration II shown in FIG. 2.

In order to also ensure that the weight 23 is securely accommodated in the cup lining 12, a receptacle space 48 for the weight 23 is formed on the cup bottom 46 of the internal cup 42 with the aid of a bottom web 47 such that the weight 23 can already be arranged on the cup bottom 46 before the internal cup 42 is inserted into the interior of the spacer 41.

Once the internal cup 42 is completely inserted into the receptacle space 22, a radial snap-in ring 50 of the internal cup 42 engages with the opening edge 30 of the receptacle opening 18 defined by the inward flange 17 in the lining. 

1. A cream cup with an internal cup for accommodating a cream and an external cup lining for receiving the internal cup, wherein a spacer is arranged between the internal cup and the cup lining, characterized in that the spacer (21, 41) can be transferred from a radially retracted configuration for being inserted into the cup lining into a radially expanded configuration for receiving the internal cup (11, 42) after its insertion to the cup lining such that the internal cup is fixed in the cup lining (12).
 2. The cream cup according to claim 1, characterized in that the spacer (21) features at least two spacer segments (25) that are connected to one another by means of connecting devices of variable length.
 3. The cream cup according to claim 2, characterized in that the spacer segments (25) are realized in the form of ring segments that are connected to one another by means of circumferential webs (27) on their longitudinal ends.
 4. The cream cup according to claim 3, characterized in that the ring segments (25) are connected to one another by means of the circumferential webs (27) on their upper axial ends and by means of radial spokes (29) on their lower radial ends.
 5. The cream cup according to claim 1, characterized in that the spacer (41) features at least two spacer segments (44) that have an axial dimension corresponding to the inner height of the cup lining (12) and are respectively connected to a circumferential edge (47) of a cup bottom (46) of the internal cup (42) on their upper axial ends by means of a connecting device (49) with a predetermined breaking point.
 6. The cream cup according to claim 5, characterized in that the connecting device (49) is made of a film material.
 7. The cream cup according to Claim 5, characterized in that the internal cup (42) and the spacer (41) are realized in one piece with the aid of the connecting device (49).
 8. The cream cup according to Claim 5, characterized in that the circumferential edge (47) and the cup bottom (46) define a receptacle space (48) for accommodating a weight (23).
 9. The cream cup according to claim 2, characterized in that the spacer segments are realized elastically.
 10. The cream cup according to claim 3, characterized in that a radially outer and a radially inner surface of the ring segments respectively have a surface contour that corresponds to the surface contour of an inner surface of the cup lining (12) and an outer surface of the internal cup (11, 42), respectively.
 11. The cream cup according to claim 10, characterized in that the internal cup (11) and the cup lining (12) are realized in the form of cylindrical cups and the ring segments (25) are realized in the form of hollow cylindrical segments. 